Death's Door
by DefrostingIceQueen
Summary: A woman raises the legendary 'Thief King' from the dead in order to complete her evil plans, but he's not the only spirit to be resurrected. Now it's up to Atem and Yugi to stop them no matter what the cost.


Throughout Domino City, mischief was about on the east side of town as children danced about much to their parents' mixed annoyance and amusement. Being Halloween, though, it was to be expected. However, the west side of town was as dead and silent as the graves. It was the old side of town- the part that contained old warehouses, decrepit houses that barely stood, and the Domino City Museum. The museum closed at seven every night, but the security was on guard twenty-four hours a day. There was one guard always on duty, and the guard on duty this Halloween sat at the front desk listening to some music. He had no idea that he was being watched or that the cameras had just been rendered useless should he meet disaster. Nor did he know that the phone lines were cut. He was all alone except for two people- a man and a woman both in black pants and leather jackets- that secretly watched his every move. "Now?" the woman whispered, her brown eyes gleaming in the darkened hall.

"Now," the man agreed.

Lifting his gun, the man shot. The guard fell over without a word to the ground. Smirking, the man stepped around the corner. The woman followed. There footsteps echoed eerily throughout the museum. Flicking on a flashlight, the man's dark eyes fell upon the display sign. "Ancient Egypt," he said, with a slightly mocking tone.

The woman smiled lightly. "Indeed. You are certain it is here?"

"Of course."

The woman glanced upward at the moon through the skylight. "We must hurry. This might be our only chance for a while. We have to do it while the boundary between the spirit world and our world is weak."

"It's this way."

The man strode confidently through the maze of collections and displays. "Wait."

The woman stopped before a glass case containing a mummy. "Not so high and mighty, huh, Nameless Pharaoh?" she mocked.

"The Nameless Pharaoh?" the man asked.

"Indeed."

She sat her hand on the edge of the glass case and smirked. "Indeed it is. It's the Pharaoh on the stone tablet. Perhaps, we should break this one."

"Break it?"

"The case. You see; these are special cases. No oxygen can get inside. They're pumped with nitrogen to keep the mummies from molding or disintegrating. That's how the museum preserves them, and with oxygen, well, they begin to disintegrate. It'd be ironic, and you know how I love irony."

The woman took a hammer from underneath her jacket and brought it down, shattering the glass. "Not so invincible, are you?"

She laughed. "Yes, very, very ironic." Then, as if she'd suddenly been transformed into another person, she quieted and, very calmly, said, "But this is not who I'm looking for. We'll continue."

Taking the lead again, the man led her to another glass case that also contained a mummy. "This is the one- the one they call the 'Thief'."

"Indeed it is."

She was a bit more careful smashing the glass this time, and she carefully swept the broken pieces away. "It's so creepy that you're touching it."

"Maybe to you, but not to me."

The woman set her hammer on the ground and pulled a green heart-shaped gem from around her neck. "I come before the gods as a mortal with the heart of life in my hand. I come and stand before the gods- the great gods! I come before Osiris! I come before you. Gods, hear my pleas, and bring back a soul of the dead."

She set the gem directly over the mummy's chest and subtly grabbed the gun underneath her jacket. Whirling around, she shot the man with her. He barely had time to gasp before he died. "A pawn- sorry, darling."

She put the gun back in its place and raised her hands to the sky. "I present an offering of life and blood so that spirits may return! I command the gods! Restore the soul! Restore the soul and rip the curtain!"

Her voice rose to a frenzied scream, and the jewel began to glow a pale, emerald green. "Restore the soul and rip the curtain! Restore the soul and rip the curtain! Restore the soul! Rip the curtain!"

The gem glowed brighter as she chanted louder and louder. Then, the entire mummy became surrounded in a green glow. "Take the blood! Restore the soul! Rip the curtain! Take the blood! Restore the soul! Rip the curtain!"

Slowly, the bandages began to become whiter and looser. "Take the blood! Restore the soul! Rip the curtain!"

The bandages fell away, and the body beneath appeared. "Take the blood…"

The body twitched. "Restore the soul!"

The mummy's chest began to move. "Rip, tear, and destroy the curtain!"

Dark eyes opened, and with a growl the mummy sat up, clothes and body fully restored. A faint glow vanished from around his chest. The woman stepped back and bowed. "All hail, the Thief King! All hail!" she exclaimed in Egyptian.

The former mummy looked about him with his eyes narrowed. From her averted gaze, the woman managed to see thick, white hair and muscled tan skin. She didn't dare look at his face, though- not yet. "Where am I?" he asked.

"My great king, I have brought you back from the dead in the hope that you could help me."

"Help you? _Help you_?"

"Perhaps, we can reach an agreement. I request that we hurry, though. My car is waiting outside, and I shot a man as a sacrifice. Forgive me, I'm sure my words are strange to you."

"No," the Thief King replied.

He stepped down from the glass case and landed smoothly. "Let us be on our way."

His cloak swept behind him as he walked. The woman quickly followed, glass cracking beneath her feet. The Thief King's steps were quick, and he didn't stop even once to survey his surroundings. They left, and if one was in the museum, he or she would've heard the sound of the woman's car starting as they drove away.

All was quiet in the museum. Then, there was a gasp and a pained cough. A moment later, a pair of violet eyes snapped open.


End file.
